Features

Our autumn holiday to the Riviera in search of a week of sunshine has ended with a bang, several, in fact. Our pre-prandial drinks on a café terrace off Jean Medicin, Nice’s main shopping boulevard, are interrupted by the firing of rockets at the CRS, the much-detested French riot polic

Two questions: who do you trust? Who do you really trust? If that is the first sift for the intelligence services, then it is notable that counter-espionage officers in MI5 had been long wary about disgruntled KGB officers claiming to be willing to betray their motherland. That point from the prolog

The chancellor promised a Budget of “breathing space now and fresh hope for the future”. For partners in Scotland’s law firms, that breathing space is on hold until the Scottish Budget on 3 December, writes Alex Docherty. Nothing in the Budget was aimed specifically at law firms. W

Scotland's civil courts need procedures that are not only legally sound but proportionate, accessible and effective in practice, writes Ahsan Mustafa. The Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) occupies an important position in the administration of justice in Scotland. It was established on 28 May 2

September brought two milestones in the militarisation of space: the United States confirmed that it had put a weapon in orbit, and the RAF launched No. III Space Effects Squadron, its first unit dedicated to countering hostile threats to UK satellites. One of the few experts on the topic and the au

Changes to corroboration and the use of evidence from absent witnesses have weakened protections against wrongful convictions in Scotland, writes Douglas McConnell. In more than 20 years as a criminal defence solicitor, I have watched Scotland’s criminal justice system evolve significantly. of

2025 was a difficult year for any solicitor with farming clients, if I may be bold enough to appoint myself temporary spokesperson for such a group, writes Catherine Bury. The surprise changes to inheritance tax reliefs applying to agricultural property were enough to provoke the conversations Micro

Treason pays it would appear – for publishers at any rate. This year has seen a slew of new books on the the young idealists who spied for the Soviet Union. Stalin’s Apostles by Antonia Senior, currently Radio 4’s book of the week, fairly rattles along providing a valuable new over

Scottish retailers must ensure their policies and procedures comply with new restrictions on the promotion and placement of less healthy food and drink products now in force, writes Zoe Betts. The Food (Promotion and Placement) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 came into force on 1 October. The regulation

As the nights draw in and the shops silt up with Hallowe’en plastic, spare a thought for the poltergeist. Invisible to the human eye, dismissed as a noisy nuisance if making its presence felt. Court reporters in Scotland can empathise, writes Rosalind McInnes, legal director at BBC Scotland. D

The handling of a solicitor complaint has raised questions about undisclosed evidence, investigator accountability and the independence of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission’s decision-making process, writes Mohammed Sabir. Complaints against solicitors are inevitable. The important ques

When the allied victors surveyed in the 1940s and 50s the rubble of a European continent – and world – ravaged by the breakdown of the rule of law they sought to draw up a charter of universal human rights and freedoms designed to guard against a slip back into the abyss. It might be sur

As the saying goes, the devil is in the detail. It is tempting to be cautiously optimistic, with the recent Scottish company insolvency figures released by the Insolvency Service showing a 23 per cent reduction in August 2026 compared to August 2025, writes Stuart Clubb. Following a period of elevat

Jonathan Barne KC of Axiom Advocates outlines the key points of the co-insurance defence and its potential consequences. Beware. It lurks. Ill-defined. Morphing. Misunderstood. But, potentially, very dangerous to the unwary. The co-insurance defence.

On any view, a single death on Scotland’s roads is one death too many. However, is the way we measure the success or otherwise of road safety policies correct and should we only look at the number of fatalities and/or serious injuries? For example, in 2023 there were 27 motorcycling fatalities